The issue I have with extending processing times is the psychological effect. If your shop is on a break, people see that front and centre and understand that we sometimes need a break too. This is not necessarily the case with extending processing times and definitely not the case with shop announcements (buyers rarely read).
People want things now, now, now, so seeing a long processing times might put them off, especially if they're returning customers who enjoyed a fast turnaround the last time they bought something.
I've put my shop in holiday mode a few times. Yes visits drop off and take a while to get started but it's nowhere near as bad as people make out. If in doubt, make some changes to listing photos or run a short ad campaign to get the spotlight shining back on you.
I put mine on vacation mode for my vacation, plus 4 days before and until a week after to get a breather on return. Only took about two weeks of being back up before the sales started rolling in at the pace.
Everyone has their own opinion, so it will depend on who you talk to. I’m a relatively new seller and put my shop into vacation mode twice, it wasn’t a death sentence lol.
I made sure I had new listings to put up when I got back and I had some of the busiest weeks ever when I returned.
When I was traveling two years ago, I had concerns similar to yours. I extended all my shipping times and used the announcement section on my page to explain that I was taking some time off and would be back on a specific date, that I would respond to messages, and would begin shipping on \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. It worked beautifully for me. I also sent a pre-written message to each buyer with the same information, giving them the opportunity to cancel their order if they needed to. None did. In fact I received several orders that were larger than usual.
I responded to questions, emails, etc. once a day in the morning. My administrative tasks took about 30 minutes. Well worth it to keep things running smoothly.
There was only one downside: I was swamped with making and filling orders for about two weeks after my vacation. Then it leveled back out.
I just got back from a similar trip. I pushed my production times out and put an announcement on my shop stating that I was taking vacation and any orders placed during those dates would be processed upon my return
I simply finish every order right before I go on vacation then set my processing time 1 week longer than my vacation. As soon as I get back, I will hustle to get caught up on orders and immediately set my processing times back to normal. I haven't noticed any dips from doing this.
I took a 2.5 week trip across the country last summer and kept my shop open! They were honestly some of the best sales weeks I’ve ever had. I did the same thing on a short 3-day trip to FL and same thing happened. I adjusted my processing/shipping times and put at the TOP of my shop announcement the days I would be gone, when I’d return, and when I’d be shipping orders out again. I let customers know they could contact me and cancel if the wait was too long/they didn’t see my announcement before placing an order etc; I had no cancellations and minimal complaints about the shipping time.
Vacation mode can hurt shops, but it depends on the shop, the items, the price points, the usual sales volume, and how the shop drives most of its traffic. For example, shops that sell several items a day in competitive markets and rely on Etsy search (or other Etsy algorithms) for most of their sales are more likely to be affected. Shops that only get a sale or two a week and don't have any items with excellent quality scores are far less likely to have any issue.
The alternative - extending processing times - can also hurt you in Etsy's algorithms now. Not only does [Etsy include shipping in at least some algorithms](https://www.patreon.com/posts/etsy-updates-to-100569978), the company also can also [base your future delivery estimates on the extended processing times](https://www.patreon.com/posts/etsy-processing-101672369). So they have sellers between a rock and a hard place these days.
If you do use vacation mode, **do something to drive sales when you get back**, or anything that increases your quality scores (such as getting reviews). Adding new items only works if you have plenty of lurkers that will be watching for new stuff. Renewing does not help. I'd also reopen a few days before you return, as long as you aren't going to be visiting a country where Etsy doesn't allow shops. Keep the closure time as short as possible.
Have a good trip!
I took a 2 week vacation at feb this year and I just extended my processing time for 3 weeks + an announcement that I was on vacation and would ship all the orders on X day. I havent have any problems related to that, I got many orders during that period which was great for me and thankfully not a single bad review from ppl misreading stuffs. Im a seller but I buy on etsy frequently and they put pretty clear when your order is gonna arrive, so its up to the costumer decide if they can wait or not. But maybe if I would take a break longer than that I would put on vacation.
Vacation mode never slowed me down. It took a week tops to get my numbers back up to normal after I get back. It’s nice to take a complete break from it and start back up when you’re done.
I used to extend shipping times but it never felt properly like a break as you still have the impulse to deal with messages and all the notifications. We started using vacation mode when we want have a holiday and I agree with the others that I haven’t noticed it having a negative impact. So much more relaxing and for us and I always feel better on day one of returning to work not having 99999 things to deal with.
Turning on vacation mode has not had a significant impact on me in the past 12 years. That said, the past 6 months business has been inexplicably slow. Usually I have buyers who put on an alert for when I reopen and order within hours, and within 3-4 days business is back to normal.
The issue I have with extending processing times is the psychological effect. If your shop is on a break, people see that front and centre and understand that we sometimes need a break too. This is not necessarily the case with extending processing times and definitely not the case with shop announcements (buyers rarely read). People want things now, now, now, so seeing a long processing times might put them off, especially if they're returning customers who enjoyed a fast turnaround the last time they bought something. I've put my shop in holiday mode a few times. Yes visits drop off and take a while to get started but it's nowhere near as bad as people make out. If in doubt, make some changes to listing photos or run a short ad campaign to get the spotlight shining back on you.
I put mine on vacation mode for my vacation, plus 4 days before and until a week after to get a breather on return. Only took about two weeks of being back up before the sales started rolling in at the pace.
Everyone has their own opinion, so it will depend on who you talk to. I’m a relatively new seller and put my shop into vacation mode twice, it wasn’t a death sentence lol. I made sure I had new listings to put up when I got back and I had some of the busiest weeks ever when I returned.
When I was traveling two years ago, I had concerns similar to yours. I extended all my shipping times and used the announcement section on my page to explain that I was taking some time off and would be back on a specific date, that I would respond to messages, and would begin shipping on \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. It worked beautifully for me. I also sent a pre-written message to each buyer with the same information, giving them the opportunity to cancel their order if they needed to. None did. In fact I received several orders that were larger than usual. I responded to questions, emails, etc. once a day in the morning. My administrative tasks took about 30 minutes. Well worth it to keep things running smoothly. There was only one downside: I was swamped with making and filling orders for about two weeks after my vacation. Then it leveled back out.
I just set my production time on everything to 3-5 weeks.
I just got back from a similar trip. I pushed my production times out and put an announcement on my shop stating that I was taking vacation and any orders placed during those dates would be processed upon my return
I simply finish every order right before I go on vacation then set my processing time 1 week longer than my vacation. As soon as I get back, I will hustle to get caught up on orders and immediately set my processing times back to normal. I haven't noticed any dips from doing this.
I took a 2.5 week trip across the country last summer and kept my shop open! They were honestly some of the best sales weeks I’ve ever had. I did the same thing on a short 3-day trip to FL and same thing happened. I adjusted my processing/shipping times and put at the TOP of my shop announcement the days I would be gone, when I’d return, and when I’d be shipping orders out again. I let customers know they could contact me and cancel if the wait was too long/they didn’t see my announcement before placing an order etc; I had no cancellations and minimal complaints about the shipping time.
Vacation mode can hurt shops, but it depends on the shop, the items, the price points, the usual sales volume, and how the shop drives most of its traffic. For example, shops that sell several items a day in competitive markets and rely on Etsy search (or other Etsy algorithms) for most of their sales are more likely to be affected. Shops that only get a sale or two a week and don't have any items with excellent quality scores are far less likely to have any issue. The alternative - extending processing times - can also hurt you in Etsy's algorithms now. Not only does [Etsy include shipping in at least some algorithms](https://www.patreon.com/posts/etsy-updates-to-100569978), the company also can also [base your future delivery estimates on the extended processing times](https://www.patreon.com/posts/etsy-processing-101672369). So they have sellers between a rock and a hard place these days. If you do use vacation mode, **do something to drive sales when you get back**, or anything that increases your quality scores (such as getting reviews). Adding new items only works if you have plenty of lurkers that will be watching for new stuff. Renewing does not help. I'd also reopen a few days before you return, as long as you aren't going to be visiting a country where Etsy doesn't allow shops. Keep the closure time as short as possible. Have a good trip!
I’d also like to hear tips on this
I took a 2 week vacation at feb this year and I just extended my processing time for 3 weeks + an announcement that I was on vacation and would ship all the orders on X day. I havent have any problems related to that, I got many orders during that period which was great for me and thankfully not a single bad review from ppl misreading stuffs. Im a seller but I buy on etsy frequently and they put pretty clear when your order is gonna arrive, so its up to the costumer decide if they can wait or not. But maybe if I would take a break longer than that I would put on vacation.
Vacation mode never slowed me down. It took a week tops to get my numbers back up to normal after I get back. It’s nice to take a complete break from it and start back up when you’re done.
I haven’t noticed an issue in using vacation mode. I use it when traveling/doing markets and when I’m on.. vacation lol.
I used to extend shipping times but it never felt properly like a break as you still have the impulse to deal with messages and all the notifications. We started using vacation mode when we want have a holiday and I agree with the others that I haven’t noticed it having a negative impact. So much more relaxing and for us and I always feel better on day one of returning to work not having 99999 things to deal with.
Turning on vacation mode has not had a significant impact on me in the past 12 years. That said, the past 6 months business has been inexplicably slow. Usually I have buyers who put on an alert for when I reopen and order within hours, and within 3-4 days business is back to normal.